Award Winning Findhorn Bay Festival will Return this September

February 28, 2018 | News

The multi award-winning Findhorn Bay Festival will return to Moray for a third time in September 2018. From Wednesday 26 September to Monday 1 October, the biennial Festival will host a spectacular programme of arts and culture events showcasing artists of local, national and international renown.

Staged in unexpected spaces and scenic locations around the bay of Findhorn in Moray, the Festival will feature a vibrant mix of theatre, performance, music, dance, visual arts, exhibitions, talks, tours and more as well as Culture Day Forres – Scotland’s only Culture Day extravaganza, free for all the family to enjoy.

Building on the success of the 2016 Festival, which saw 13,659 audiences attend over 65 events during the six-day celebration, this year’s Festival will be part of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018, offering new ways for young people to participate in the Festival.

Funds totalling £180,000 have been raised by Forres based producers, Findhorn Bay Arts, to stage the Festival and associated projects for a third time. The Festival, which has previously demonstrated a local economic impact of £875k and a significant influx of visitors to the area for the event, is being supported by the National lottery through Creative Scotland, EventScotland’s National Programme Fund, the Year of Young People Event Fund, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and Berry Burn Community Fund as well as many local sponsors.

In 2018, Scotland puts its young people in the spotlight. The Year of Young People aims to inspire all ages through our young people by celebrating their amazing talents, valuing their contributions and creating new opportunities for them to shine on a local and global stage.

Supported by the Year of Young People 2018 Event Fund, Creative Scotland’s Open Fund and a number of local business sponsors, the Festival will create a new and unique theatre piece based on the Scottish literary work The Buke of the Howlat which will premier as part of the Festival. The work will be developed with Moray’s young people offering community performance and creative learning opportunities that embrace and celebrate the energy, enthusiasm and talents of over 300 local young people.

Funding from the Moray LEADER Programme and EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, will also enable the development of an exciting new Making More of Moray project which will incorporate the region’s organic food offerings. A pop-up Project Café, a mini-market as part of Culture Day Forres, and a Picnic in The Park event will all be new additions to the Festival programme.

Findhorn Bay Festival Director Kresanna Aigner, said: “It has taken our team over a year of planning and fundraising so far, and we are thrilled to welcome funders, partners and new local sponsors to the third Findhorn Bay Festival. Together we will deliver a high quality programme of events and opportunities for visitors and locals alike to experience and enjoy. We are now looking forward to announcing our full Festival programme in June.”

Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “Findhorn Bay Festival is a wonderful celebration of arts and culture, and the event has gone from strength to strength thanks to the hard work of Kresanna and her team. We are delighted to be supporting Making More of Moray, showcasing the best in regional and Scottish produce, which will no doubt add to the strong offering at this year’s festival. In the Year of Young People 2018, it is also fantastic to see that the event will be celebrating our talented young people by getting them involved in a unique new production of The Buke of the Howlat.”

The full Findhorn Bay Festival programme will be launched in June 2018. Pre-launch event details and ticket sales will be released over the coming months as well as a plethora of opportunities to get involved in and participate during the Festival. Visit www.findhornbayfestival.com/participate to find out more.